Adding music to Apple Music via drag-and-drop from the Finder in macOS 26.2, without disrupting the queue?

Question

Level 1

68 points

Adding music to Apple Music via drag-and-drop from the Finder in macOS 26.2, without disrupting the queue?

I've just upgraded to macOS Tahoe 26.2.

I often download lossless tracks from Bandcamp and add them to Apple Music. In prior system versions, when I dragged these files into Apple Music, I'd get a dialog box asking if I wanted to play them, clear the current queue, or just add them to the library. That dialog box is not appearing in 26.2. It's frustrating to me because I can't add music without having to redo my music queue.

I can't seem to find a setting to bring this dialog box back. Anyone know of one?

(Fortunately, adding music from Bandcamp does a much better job of matching with the Apple Music library than years ago--I'm so glad Apple has gotten this to work reasonably reliably. It takes 5-10 minutes for Apple Music to process ("waiting") but then the tracks are listed with iCloud status as "matched" which is great.)

iMac (M4, 2024)

Posted on Dec 22, 2025 3:58 AM

Reply

Answer 1

mikelach2 Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 27, 2025 6:08 AM in response to mikelach2

Clarification and (partial) resolution.

In macOS 26.2, adding files via drag-and-drop deletes the existing queue and immediately begins playback. Adding files via the File/Import menu adds files but does not disrupt the queue.

Behavior was changed since Sequoia, but I haven't confirmed this is how things work in macOS 26 or macOS 26.1.

Reply

Answer 2

mikelach2 Author

Level 1

68 points

Dec 27, 2025 1:02 PM in response to turingtest2

Hmmm. I've never used that feature.

I presume that any mp3s or Apple Lossless audio files that are placed here get added to the library, and if "Copy files to Media folder when adding to library" is selected, they'll get moved to the proper place automatically. Seems like this is just a different UI for an alternative to the drag-and-drop onto the Finder icon?

Reply

Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

278,363 points

Dec 28, 2025 6:57 AM in response to mikelach2

Since the Automatically Add to Music folder is inside the Music Media folder, there is never any need to make copies when using it, and regardless of the Keep... or Copy... options any files added using this method get moved to wherever Music thinks is the correct location for them based on their metadata. The one minor difference is that any hidden files you might copy in there should get silently deleted, and any invalid media files should get moved to a Not Added subfolder. This last can be useful diagnostically if you've tried other methods to import files and it seems like some have not been added when you thought they should be. It won't tell you what the problem is, but at least it will confirm there is one. And of course you can keep dumping as many tracks as you like into the folder without interrupting the import process, or triggering unwanted playback.

tt2

Reply